Solar Bears sign Patrick McNally

ORLANDO, Fla. – The Orlando Solar Bears have announced the club has agreed to terms with defenseman Patrick McNally on an ECHL Standard Player Contract for the 2020-21 season. Orlando has also traded veteran forward Peter MacArthur to the Adirondack Thunder in exchange for future considerations.

McNally, 28, returns to North America for his sixth season of professional hockey after splitting time last year in the Slovak Extraliga between HK Nitra and MAC HKB Újbuda, collecting 37 points (4g-33a) and 76 penalty minutes in 55 games. 

The 6-foot-2, 205-pound blueliner has played in 94 career games in the American Hockey League with the San Jose Barracuda, amassing 18 points (4g-14a) and 47 penalty minutes. During his time in San Jose, McNally was teammates with current Solar Bears defenseman Michael Brodzinski. McNally has also generated 24 points (12g-12a) and 43 penalty minutes in 29 career ECHL games in his lone season with the Worcester Railers in 2017-18, when he led Worcester’s blue line in scoring despite playing in less than half the season. 

Prior to turning pro, the Glen Head, N.Y. native played college hockey at Harvard University, where he helped the Crimson capture the ECAC title in 2015 and was named to the conference’s Second All-Star Team. McNally produced 60 points (14g-46a) and 68 penalty minutes in 82 career games for Harvard. 

McNally was a fourth-round selection (#115 overall) of the Vancouver Canucks in the 2010 NHL Entry Draft. 

MacArthur, 35, previously signed with the Solar Bears on July 8.